2012 Surprise Rangers Opening-Day Roster

Jason Cole

06/20/2012

With five players who were selected in the first two rounds of this year's MLB Draft––in addition to high-ceiling Dominican prospects Ronald Guzman and Nomar Mazara––the rookie-level Surprise Rangers will be a talented bunch in 2012. Lone Star Dugout has the club's opening-day roster.

The rookie-level Surprise Rangers open their 2012 season on Wednesday, June 20 against their complex mates, the Surprise Royals. The 56-game Arizona League slate runs through the end of August. All games this season will be played at 7:00 p.m. local time at the various spring training complexes in the Phoenix area. While some of the games will be played in the spring training stadiums, the majority will take place on the back fields.

Because the league has a scheduled day off every fifth day, the Rangers will go with a four-man rotation to start season. The rotation, which includes the piggyback system, will begin as follows––1. C.J. Edwards/Aliangel Lopez, 2. Luis Parra/Anyelo Leclerc, 3. Collin Wiles/John Niggli, 4. Denny Peralta.

The opening-day roster, which is listed below, only includes players who will be active for opening day. It also does not include rehabbers who are currently in Arizona. Some players not listed, for these reasons, are LHP Richard Bleier, RHP Justin Miller, LHP Sam Stafford, RHP Matt Thompson, and RHP Brett Weibley. Although Miller and Stafford are out for the season, Bleier, Thompson, and Weibley should all log innings this year.

Aside from the 2012 draft picks, right-hander Jorge de Jesus is the only new name on the Rangers' Arizona League roster. The 20-year-old righty had pitched parts of the last four seasons with Texas' Dominican Summer League club. In four appearances this year, he yielded one run on three hits in 7.1 innings, walking two and striking out 11.

The Rangers released RHP Tae-Kyung Ahn, OF Guillermo Pimentel, and RHP K.C. Wiser at the conclusion of extended spring training.

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